The parents cannot resist!

So if you said that my dad was obsessed with Grant that is a bit of an understatement. So he and my mom could not resist coming to visit. It was a great weekend. They were originally going to come during Memorial day but I had some gastrointestinal viral infection all weekend.. plus it was raining. So anyway the following weekend was gorgeous and perfect time to come. They came on a Friday evening. Perry and his band had a show at a local pizza place called Pizza Docs. We ate the all you can eat buffet and watched him play.

Grant also experience his first ice cream cone!

The next day we ventured off to Thanksgiving Point and visited Farm Country, which is a farm and a petting zoo. 

This cow was sucking on my shirt and the other one was kissing Grant's face.

Notice Grandpa bonding with the cow lol. I think its his favorite animal. 

And then before church we visited Bridal Veil Falls up Provo Canyon. It was about 15 minute from our place.

Watering our garden...nothing had sprouted yet.

My cheater plants.. I bought from the store. They are tomato, pepper, and jalopeno.

Life in Orem-Springtime

So we got here a little too early for my taste. Yes I left 80 degree weather to live in 40 degree weather. Of course by now we are in summer!! Yay! I wish summer was all year long... which means I need to live on a tropical island I guess. But here are some of the happenings around our house.

Grant reads his books.

Chills on the front step eating a banana.

And helps mommy wash dishes. 

In the spring he also can splash in puddles he has never before experienced.

He has started to eat like a pro.

Take baths.

Plays with his toy drill, courtesy of DI... as well as a whole toolbox of tools and toys.

Our days also consist of going to the park. Grant loves the slides and is a daredevil trying to go face first. He can climb the 4 foot high platforms using the one bar they have there to help  a person up. We have met a lot of our neighbors and enjoy chatting with them from time to time. We also go shopping at.... WINCO! I haven't had one of those close enough for a long time! Also another favorite passtime is walking to Costco which is just a couple blocks away and getting samples. Yum!

We moved and are now....Utards!

So we have moved to Orem, Utah. The move was exhausting because Perry was in Orem already starting to work and I was home packing things and packed the uhaul all day and then drove there.

About to leave.

We thought we were going to have to leave some thing behind but my mom packs like a tetris game.  Amazing.

Grandpa giving good bye kisses.

 I think just taking care of Grant all day was exhausting. Obviously I do that now here too. It was a good preview to what it would be like to have Perry working fulltime except when I got here he at least took over for feeding Grant dinner and helping with bed time. Anyway....why did we move...? Among all the many reasons....Perry got a job that made a lot more money than what he was making in Henderson, NV even though we weren't paying rent there. That is pretty cool. However, the major change for me is that Perry is like a "real" hubby and actually is gone all day at his fulltime job. I know I'm such a wimp but being home with your hubby almost all the time for about 4 months kind of makes you slightly dependent wouldn't you say?! So I had a pretty tough time getting used to Perry being gone but now I'm used to it. We moved May 1st so it has been about a month and a half. I absolutely love the greenery around here and the majestic mountains. They are breath taking. And the neighborhood is quiet and not busy, and we are in a 4 plex home.

Part of the backyard.

My back front door... and yes they are glass sliders 180 degrees. I LOVE windows!

Side yard... that dirt would be my neighbors garden plot.

Front of house. We are on the opposite corner.

My covered car port. We get the whole left side and if we use the whole drive way we could almost fit 4 cars! Our apartment entrance is around the corner past that weird square like barrier.

View from the carport.

The backyard in basically mine and I don't even maintain it. The manager maintains it and I just get to let Grant roam freely in the backyard. He has fun picking flowers, running around, exploring, squawking at birds, pointing at airplanes, playing in his water buckets, and playing with his balls. We also have a garden plot...more on that later. The place is full of quirks for sure but we love the place. The quirks include different counters/cabinetry on either side of the kitchen, the laundry room is in Grant's bedroom. There are sealed doors in a couple places that would go into another person's apartment but as I said..it is sealed. There are mirrors all over, the master bedroom has no door....the list goes on.

My sister-in-law and others helped us unload the uhaul. So nice!

Cousins reunited!

The Den Man Cave. In the Basement/Master Bedroom. But its its own room.

Kitchen sink side.

Notice the difference in cabinets and counters.

Master bedroom. The closet is hugely deep. Our bed now has a frame and head board.

Oh and we have an ornamental fireplace...it isn't actually hooked up.

Stairs go to the master bedroom.. note. No door.

Oh... forgot about this quirk. Grant's bedroom door in an accordian.  Need I say more.

View from door... Totally forgot to put a picture of the crib/shelf side.. I guess another post.

 We got a 4 piece leather family room set for $20. We got a solid wood table and chairs with 2 leaves set for $25, a washer/dryer for $150...and a few other end tables and such for dirt cheap! I am now officially burnt out from craigslist, ksl, and garage saleing. I never thought the day would come.

Last moments of Henderson, NV

So I guess my slump started, as I mentioned before, from losing my camera. Well it is most definitely found now and it looks to me that I should update from March 13th to now. So of course that means we were still in Henderson, NV.

We have Grant having just learned to open and close the doors at my parent's place.

Grant had just learned how to go up the steps of the little slide and go down it... as parents you can tell we are thoroughly amused lol.

Perry played a couple shows at a place called Elixer. He got half off the menu if he played.

Perry had his...(I'm already forgetting how old we are) 25th birthday!

Grant's silly bum.

More silly stunts and achoos.

And of course Easter! Grant's 2nd Easter and his first Easter basket. I still need to upload the Easter Egg hunt from my mom's computer. Oh and the first couple pictures were from a community easter party.

In the Bouncer!

My parents unexpectedly won a raffle!

Carrots from the Easter Bunny! I know. Healthy huh. We just didn't feel like buying candy this year...

Grandma Flora's Easter gift...I mean....

It deserves a kiss. Yes... he gives open mouth kisses lol.


And coming next will be......Read on I won't spoil it.

A few reasons

So I haven't blogged in a while for a few reasons, I was busy, moving, cleaning, taking care of Grant, starting a budget with our new source of income, planning a cleaning schedule, planning a meal plan, hanging out with my hubby, hanging out with my sister in law and her family, watching movies, relaxing.........

So yeah, I have missed out on a lot of things but really when you think about it I have been living in reality and not been online. So I have lots of videos and pictures to share over the past 2 months and hopefully I will be back to blogging every week or so. The coming blogposts will be in order from where I left off. Enjoy!

My top NINE take aways from conference in no particular order:

1. Boyd K. Packard: “Do alot of forgiving and a little repenting.” Which in turn will give you the companionship of the Spirit and you will be blessed.

2. Richard Maynes: Family prayer, family scripture study, and family home evening will oversome the false traditions of the world and offer power and protection.

3. Cecil O. Samuelson, Jr.: Being hard on oneself when having sinned can be just as destructive as being casual in repentence.

4. Dallin H. Oaks: Desire leads to Priorities, which leads to Choices, which leads to Actions, which leads to what we Become.

5. Also DHO: We can override our basic desires for the welfare of others. (In my case, override my desire to sleep for the welfare of Grant and other future babies I have)

6. M. Russell Ballard: Treat others as you would like to be treated (so cliche and true. Yet many people overlook this or don’t practice it...include myself sometimes.)

7. MRS: If we don’t serve others there is little purpose in our lives.

8. Deiter F. Uchdorf: Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary use words. Lol. Love it! Aka be an example! :) People will wonder why you are happy and at peace and then you will share the reason... The gospel!

9. Have picture of the temple in every bedroom in the home.

You probably loved conference. I know I did!

Blogging slump.

So I'm having one of those months where my blogging goal is in a slump. Partly because I haven't found my camera and my favorite part about blogging is posting pictures and videos. I also haven't actually put forth much effort in finding the camera... so the faults on me of course. But whatever. I don't feel like blogging but I will tell you some things Grant has been doing. He is teething. He is doing ring around the rosie. He is "running". He said "Jesus" at church the other day. He takes one, long, glorious nap a day. He doesn't like to be in his high chair too long, but is still hungry when we take him out... ugh. He reads books to himself. So cute! And he is walking backwards lol. His newest sign is baby.

In other news, Perry and I had our anniversary a couple days ago. It was so nice! I am probably forgetful but it was probably the best one yet! I blend together anniversaries and birthdays so I can never remember what I did or what he did for past ones specific to the dates. Anyway but it was great. Here is an excerpt from the letter I will be sending Megan today. I feel really redundant when I blog something and tell her something so enjoy!

"In the morning Perry took Grant when he woke up and let me sleep in. The he brought me a simple breakfast in bed (eggs, toast, frozen strawberries and blueberries, juice, and orange slices/quarters), then be gave me a colorful assortment of roses: pinks, whites, and oranges. Then when I got up up he brought me a bouquet of daffodils. Then he did a treasure hunt that made for him where he ended up in the bathroom to find a watch with a faux leather band (The theme was leather for third year of marriage presents). Then he brought out my present which were some cute conservative 2 inch heals...Also he got me a reversible black/brown leather belt from the DI. After we put Grant down we went to Anthem View Restaurant for lunch. We had a 2/1 coupon and I was already planning on taking him there before I got the coupon. It is romantic, cheap, and overlooking the valley.  After that we took a nap together. For dinner he took me to the Excalibur hotel/casino and we saw The Tournament of the Kings, which is like Dixie Stampede in Branson but more showy cuz its Vegas you know. So that was great fun yelling and eating and what not. Afterwards we got Uswirl and watched 24. Then right before bed Perry showed me the most sweetest thing ever, which you probably already saw before, but the music video that Perry made called “Where You Are”, he showed me it and it made me cry. So sweet. I loved it! So basically the best anniversary ever."

So I have got to brag. He is the best husband ever (Am I biased?)

Also to finish up, I must tell you.... Perry is going out of town to Provo, UT to look for work. I am a very dependent in the clingy sort of the word and ever since we have been married I want to spend every moment I can with him. But I have an inkling when it comes to having children. I think children make you less dependent and more independent and that is probably what has happened. A couple years ago Perry was going to go to CA to visit family for a weekend (well a friend's wedding was the main reason). I had to work (we had no baby), and last minute I joined them on the trip. Of course its different now. I thought about surprising Perry with coming but I really don't want to go. Traveling with a baby is less than ideal. I avoid distressing, frustrating situations. Also the weather there is also less than ideal. I mean who in their right mind would willingly leave 80 degree weather to go to a colder climate. I think not. I am so attached to sunshine I will not leave unless I am moving... which may be soon, if Perry gets a job.  So alas, I have some good quality time with Grant ahead. I am excited to see how it goes. This gives me much hope for future where Perry really will be gone all day for his career and sometimes not able to attend to children as he prepares lessons and whatever he does for his career. I will be able to handle it and it will be empowering!